Overwatch mod

[Gingerkid]

Can anyone tell me what this is please? It may be the answer to my missing babies query.

Many thanks

[Trip]

Overwatch is a mod from Twallan that detects and resets stuck sims, deletes extraneous vehicles left in town parking lots, and other maintenance that I'm surely missing. It's a fantastic mod.

Overwatch's main page on Twallan's site is right here. While it's an easy and safe mod to use from my experience, I'd advise reading the FAQ and anything else that might be of interest on its page just to have a better idea on what it does.

[Gingerkid]

Thank you. Is it something you use in the cheat mode menu? Shift, control & can't remember third thing at mo.

I've never used the site that you've sent link to. Is it something you have to join or just read?

Many thanks again

[SimAd]

OverWatch doesn't really do anything for your gameplay, it's just a mod that works in the background to periodically correct mishaps in your game. Of course it doesn't correct just ANY problem, but there are a number of problems it checks for, like missing Sims, unroutable Sims, some forms of corruption, etc.

The NRaas site is open for reading, if you have a WikiSpaces account (free) you can also write comments. If you request membership (there are no prerequisites) you can also edit/create Wiki pages or upload error files. You can read or download at will without joining anything though.

[Gingerkid]

Sorry new to all this, so if I want to track missing sims I need to download from nraas to get this fixed?

It's not just a cheat code that someone can tell me & I can enter?

Can you tell I'm a technophobe lol

[Gingerkid]

I've read through the Overwatch but don't understand what to do or how to apply it to my game. Sorry if I sound stupid but I'm new to all this & I just don't get it.

Can someone explain in leimans terms what you need to do or the cheat code I need to fix my missing sims. Thanks confused over here

[SimAd]

It is not a cheat code, it is just a mod that you need to install. However, if you have never installed mods before that can be a bit daunting at first. Perhaps this can help: http://nraas.wikispaces.com/How+To+Install

[Gingerkid]

Thank you, I'll have a look at your link. Wish me luck lol

[Gingerkid]

***I'm still having problems with this I have coppied & pasted the following instructions so you can see where I got to. But I'm stuck now.

From NRAAS:-
My Quick and Dirty version for installing CC and Mods.
 1.You cannot do this while your game is running as these files are in use, so turn the game off.
2.Go to C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3◦Just remember that in Windows 7 Documents is under Libraries, Windows Vista is under Documents, Windows XP is under My Documents.
 

1.Create a folder and name it Mods. (watch the case it must be exact)
2.Click to open the Mods folder so you are inside it.
3.Create a sub-folder within the Mods folder and name it Packages. (watch the case it must be exact)

 
3.Saving the new Resource.cfg file1.Hit your back button and go back to the Mods folder so you are on the same level.
2.Download / save the new Resource.cfg file from MTS located at this link... http://skuld.modthesims.info/Resource.cfg
3.DO NOT Open with... Just save the file to your Mods folder

*** I've done up to this point, but I don't understand the next bit from 3. onwards. I think I have saved the Resource cfg file but what does this next bit mean? 'Extract the (.package) files from the (.rar or .zip) files.
I'm sorry for keeping on, but I really don't get it & I just want my game to run & play as well as it can. I tried my game inbetween downloading Overwatch & this bit but there doesn'e seem to be any difference, the missing sims hadn't appeared, do I need to do this next part or is there something else I need to do to find the missing sims?***
 
4.Extract the (.package) files from the (.rar or .zip) files.1.User whatever program (i.e. WinRAR, WinZip, 7Zip) that you use to extract the (.package) file for the Mods.
2.After you have the (.package) file extracted, cut/copy (whichever you prefer) then paste only the (.package) file into the Packages sub-folder.

 
5.Delete the four cache files.1.You may also want to delete the four cache files in "The Sims 3" folder under Documents before you restart your game.■CASPartCache.package
■compositorCache.package
■scriptCache.package
■simCompositorCache.package
■socialCache.package (Note: You can delete this cache file as well "if" you have the Showtime EP installed.)
 



6.Once you have all the (.package) files in the Packages sub-folder, restart your game. You should get a pop-up notifying you that you have mods installed.


 

[SimAd]

The mods you download from NRaas are all zipped, so in order to get them to work, you'll have to unzip them (a .zip file is just a sort of "container"). You don't even really need a separate program, as Windows can read .zip files directly. The actual mod is the .package file so you'll have to make sure that you place that one in the Packages folder.

If the mod is correctly installed, you can see because when the game loads, before you get the main menu, it will pop up a window saying "Mod scripts installed".

[Gingerkid]

Hi SimAd Thank you.

In the Packages folder I've got NRaas_Overwatch_V92 Compressed zipped & Resource_cfg, does that sound right?

I didn't get the pop up a window saying "Mod scripts installed". When I started the game up again, I must have done something wrong. It's all new to me I followed the step by step, or I thought I did lol

[SimAd]

OK, there's two things that need to be corrected:

- move the resource.cfg file to the Mods folder above the Packages subfolder

- the file you have for Overwatch is the zip file, you need to click that and see the enclosed NRaas_Overwatch.package file. Drag that one out and place it in the Packages folder

That should do the trick and you'd get that window.

[Gingerkid]

Thank you so much SimAd for trying to help me. Ok I've done that still no pop up. Do I need to remove the NRaas_Overwatch_V92 from the Packages folder? I've got the package file in the Packages folder now but still the other.

I'm useless at this aren't I lol, thank you for your patience

[SimAd]

It sounds as if now the package is indeed in the correct place, the NRaas_Overwatch_V92 can be moved out of the Packages folder but that is not needed as it will be ignored anyway.

It's a good idea to look now in the Mods folder to see if indeed there is a resource.cfg file there. Note that that is the exact name of the file.

Also, your Windows seems to hide the file extensions from you, that makes it much more likely to make mistakes. Perhaps it is good to change that setting, in Windows 7, in a folder view:

- Click Organize
- From Layout choose Menu Bar and enable it.
- You now get menus on top of your folder view. Choose View, Folder Options..., go to the tab View, in the Advanced settings untick the box "Hide extensions for known file types" and press OK.

You'll now see the actual extensions of the files and that makes it much easier to see what you're actually dealing with. Windows by default hides that from the "innocent user" to avoid confusion, but whether that really works so good remains up for debate. :-)

[Gingerkid]

Bless you thanks again.

In the Mods folder I have sub folder Packages & Resource_cfg when double clicked on is a white page with the following information on
Priority 501
DirectoryFiles Files/... autoupdate
Priority 500
PackedFile Packages/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*/*/*/*.package
Priority 499
PackedFile Test/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*/*/*/*.package
Priority -50
PackedFile Probation/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*/*/*/*.package
Priority 500
PackedFile DCCache/*.dbc


Folowing your instructions & I've got the view on the menu bar but I don't get Folder Options. I get the following
Status Bar
Various Icon size options
List
Details
Tiles
Content
Sort By (with a drop down list)
Group By (with a drop down list)
Choose details...
Customise thei folder
Go To...
Refresh

I've tried to restart the game it plays but it hasn't corrected the problem, I still have missing sims. So it's not just the pop up message that it hasn't aadded. Shoukd I just give up on this? Not sure if it's my imagination but the game seems to have slowed too.

Thanks again for taking time to help me with this